Why THQ’s Destory all Humans was awesome!

Remember when we thought that publisher THQ would never be thought of again? I do. Partially because the publisher was responsible for distributing some of my favourite games when I was a kid, those games being none other than the criminally underrated and not talked about Destroy All Humans! 1 and 2. Hopes for a revival suddenly resurfaced with the arrival of THQ Nordic, and though they’ve been making news waves once again for their acquisition of Koch Media, let’s talk why we need another Destroy All Humans!

For those who aren’t familiar, Destroy All Humans! was a third-person action game released for the PS2, placing you in the semi-open world setting of 1950s American suburbia. Oh, and you took the role of an alien clone named Crypto. If already it sounds like nothing you’ve ever played before, that’s probably because it wasn’t. While the game and its sequel released to middling to lukewarm reviews, there’s no denying that the foundation was laid for Sci-Fi movie pastiche greatness.
If you hadn’t already guessed, what gave Destroy All Humans! a unique edge in the video game space was its unrelenting willingness to poke fun at the B-movie Sci-Fi schlock which permeated 1950s cinema throughout this time. The game’s opening mission saw you crash land your craft onto a generic farm, for instance, and outside of an excuse to educate players as a tutorial hub area, you soon found yourself harvesting cow brains – because of course!

Equipped with a suite of extra-terrestrial weaponry, it was just so fun to wreak havoc upon the unexpecting citizens of America. While the various locations weren’t quite as well-rounded or interconnected as say, a GTA, Destroy All Humans! was the one game in the PS2 era that let you torture people with the use of an Anal Probe gun. The game is less fun when forcing you through unavoidable stealth sections – an aspect partially aided by the ability to don the guise of other humans. However, this was more than made up for by UFO sections that saw you decimate buildings with a death ray.
“Why do we need a Destroy All Humans! now?” I hear you cry. Simply because in today’s modern video game climate, there’s no comparable experience that encourages such zany sandbox fun. The last we saw the series was with a PS3/X360 series entry subtitled Path of the Furon, but it was clear than when the IP changed hands the thirst for fun just wasn’t the same. In an age where remasters and remakes seem to be cropping up left right and centre, how about we spare a little room for a Destroy All Humans! remake eh?